I agree and disagree with Rickair. This IS a big deal if you have anything else in your background that will make you of questionable character. A misdemeanor is a misdemeanor and if jobs get extremely competitive airlines will not be willing to take a risk. They have too much to lose both in the responsibility of souls on board but also with their public reputation. All things equal, if they have two candidates, one with a squeaky clean record and one with a misdemeanor charge, who do you think they would pick?

However, I do agree that it is not a big deal if this is your ONLY offense - that includes driving infractions, etc. So you had a party? Whoopee. We've all been there, done that. So you will want to explain exactly what happened, take responsibility for your actions (or perhaps lack thereof) and if there was a lesson learned. But please...don't use the PIC analogy you stated earlier. This is cheesy at best and also errs on you not really being accountable, but instead responsible by default.

When we would encounter this type of incident we would factor in whether or not the candidate had a commercial license. Our thinking was that once you obtain that rating you are deemed a "professional" and should know better. Or at least have enough respect for the profession to act the part.

As time passes, and your record remains clean, this situation will be less and less of a "black mark." Time is your friend in this case.

Hope this helps
Lori